The Australian Law Reform Commission’s report, Child Welfare, was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament in November 1981. Although the report deals with child welfare in the A.C.T., many of the issues which are addressed are the same as those being considered in other parts of Australia. The report covers a wide range of matters, including:

• young offenders and methods of dealing with them;

• children in need of care;

• abused children;

• the licensing of child care services;

• children in employment; and

• welfare services for children and families.

This article will focus on the Commission’s recommendations on the reform of the law relating to abused children and other children in need of care.

All the Australian states are either in the process of or have completed reviews of their child welfare legislation. The Australian Law Reform Commission has also completed its report on the reform of the child welfare laws. In Tasmania the Report of the Committee of Review into the Child Welfare Act 1960 and Social Welfare Services (the Roe Report) was tabled in December 1980. The following comments are directed to the two parts of the report dealing with children in need of care and children’s courts and young offenders. A draft bill is in the process of preparation incorporating the substance of these proposals.

Those who looked forward to proposals which seek to meet the criticisms of the welfare approach to juvenile offenders and the assimilation of offenders and deprived children have been disappointed. The report proposes the development of a community welfare orientation by seeking to change the emphasis from remedial institutional services to preventative community based services, but it fails to deal with other fundamental criticisms of the existing system. The failure to reduce crime through the criminal justice system, the hypocrisy injustice and subjectivity of the welfare approach and the ambivalence and confusion inherent in the existing system are not adequately resolved.

The Sexual Assault Referral Centre (S.A.R.C.) was established in January, 1976, as a crisis and support centre for victims of sexual assault. It was Australia’s first hospital-based sexual assault centre and developed out of concern from community groups, feminists and police in Perth about the treatment of sexual assault victims.

The Centre provides a 24 hour per day, 7 day per week service for any victim of sexual assault who is over the age of 12 years. The vast majority of people attending the Sexual Assault Referral Centre have been female but the service is also available for males.

In 1972 a group of women met to discuss the growing problem of parents under stress, especially the problem of child abuse. With the increase in single parent families, the escalating number of broken marriages and the disappearance of extended families, the pressure of parents was becoming greater. These women decided to form a group, a self-help group, non denominational and non profit making. Parents Anonymous was born.

A common complaint from people who seek help from Parents Anonymous is that many doctors, infant welfare sisters, or other professional workers do not have the understanding or experience to skilfully guide or refer parents who have trouble coping with their children, especially in times of stress. In most cases, particularly with doctors, it is the general practice to either underrate the problem or to hand out a prescription to “calm poor mum down”. Also, to some parents, doctors and other professional workers represent an “authority” and this inhibits their ability to express themselves. They also fear that by admitting their parenting problems they are “failures” and fear that they may have their children taken from them. As parents are particularly vulnerable at such times, it would be helpful if professionals could be more perceptive of stress situations and their underlying causes, and be able to make parents more comfortable about talking out their problems and needs.

These guidelines are given to medical practioners at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital. They demonstrate how recognition of child abuse is introduced to this group of practioners.

“The index of suspicion must be high”.

We as the front line of this hospital must be aware of parents with the potential to abuse; the child seen by them as sufficiently difficult, who provokes their potential; (it involves all socio-economic groups) and circumstances sufficiently stressful to tip the balance!

The following articles is the winning entry of the Australian Child and Family Welfare Journalism Award for 1981. The award was presented on Monday, 27th October 1981 to Rosemary Kiely. In her reply, Rosemary Kiely mentioned that she had to subit her article twice to the Age before it was published. The first time she submitted the article it was rejected on the grounds that it was reporting on “the last taboo”.

Judges for the award were Dr. Don Edgar, Director, Institute of Family Studies, Max Walsh, Secretary, Australian Journalists’ Association and the editor of Australian Child and Family Welfare.

International concern about child maltreatment has been reflected in the establishment of an international society for the prevention of abuse and neglect which now has over 470 members and many national societies around the world.

The Third International conference on child abuse and neglect was sponsored by the International Society for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect and the Dutch Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The Conference was held in Amsterdam in April 1981 at the Free University, where 600 participants gathered. It involved professional and lay persons from 33 major countries. The Netherlands and U.S.A. sent 100 delegates each and Australia, 32, 14 of whom were social workers and 4 were medical representatives. Two hundred and fifty papers were presented of which 12 were delivered by Australians.